A COLOR CKIMER-A IN A FIG 



The cell in which the change took place was not in the developing young fruit, but in a cell of 

 the young shoot on which the fruit grew. (Photo by courtesy of Professor I. J. Condit.) (Fig. 3.) 



is proved by the following observations : 

 In the autumn following the discovery 

 of the mutant stalk it was carefully 

 lifted and the corm from which it grew 

 was separated from the cluster of white 

 flowering corms. It was observed that 

 there were smaller corms located very 

 close to the mutant corm. The fol- 

 lowing spring one flower stalk bore red 

 and white and the other only red 

 flowers. In gladiolus the young corms 

 push out from near the base of the old 

 one. Hence the original mutant corm 

 must have consisted partly of cells 

 capable of producing red pigment in 

 the flowers. That the cells having this 

 altered chemical constitution comprised 

 about one-half of the corm is indicated 

 by the position of the red and white 



flowers on the stalk." A like condition 

 in the canna lily is shown in Fig. 5, 

 where the change envolves foliage 

 leaves, flowering stalk and flowers. 



Similar kinds of vegetative mutations 

 in fruits, causing the appearance of 

 sharply defined color and texture areas, 

 have been reported in apples, peaches, 

 cherries, prunes,* tomatoes,^ olives and 

 figs.^ 



The fig-chimera here reported (see 

 Fig. 3) appears to be of a slightly 

 different type of origin from the other 

 chimeras mentioned, and also from the 

 corn grains under discussion, in that 

 the cell in which the change took plafce 

 was not in the developing of young 

 fruit itself, but in a cell of the young 

 shoot on which the fruit grew. A few 



* J. C. Whitten, Division of Pomology, University of California. 

 5 E. B. Babcock, Division of Genetics, University of California. 

 ^ I. J. Condit, Division of Citriculture, University of California. 



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